Body armor and armor plating are known in the art to protect against ballistic penetration. Armor plating can be made of various materials and compositions such as ceramics and composites. Each material has distinct advantages. For example, ceramic plating can provide an extremely hard surface, yet it can be heavy and brittle. Composites are a light weight alternative, but may not have the anti ballistic qualities of a ceramic plate.
For example, silicon carbide (SiC) can be bonded together using sintering to form a very hard ceramic plate. Also, ultra high molecular weight polyethylenes (UHMWPE) (also known as high-modulus polyethylene (HMPE) or high-performance polyethylene (HPPE)) are a type of thermoplastic polyethylene known in the art for antiballistic characteristics. One such UHMWPE, is sold under the trade name DYNEEMA by Royal DSM of the Netherlands, can be used in body armor or vehicle armor. Extremely long chains of polyethylene in an UHMWPE can effectively transfer load to a polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interactions thus providing excellent impact strength.
Attempts in the art have also included multilayered antiballistic structures, which can include a ceramic and composite (UHMWPE) layer (See generally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,633 to Van Der Loo et al.). The multilayered armor plate of Van Der Loo provides some weight and flex reduction, while maintaining effective antiballistic characteristics.
Despite these advances in the art, further improvements are possible and desired. For example, it is desirable to further reduce the weight of armor plating systems while maintaining effective antiballistic characteristics.